Cady's Take:

Lee enrolls in secretarial school, and, upon completion, begins searching for a job. After a brief interview, Edward Grey (James Spader) hires Lee to ostensibly take care of his typing, filing, and coffee making. Grey and Holloway begin a relationship that crosses far beyond the legal lines of conduct. Grey begins to go into a rage over each and every typo Lee makes and when these errors persist, Grey punishes Lee with a hard spanking.

This is a "character-driven" movie, which essentially focuses on these two very warped individuals for over an hour and forty-five minutes. This movie proves that Spader is still the grandmaster when it comes to playing sexual deviants; it was the rampant sexual freak character in Sex, Lies & Videotape (1989) that made his name.

This is the last film on the planet that I expected to evolve into a conventional love story but it does nonetheless. The film doesn't finish as well as it starts, goes on for a little too long and doesn't really develop any other characters but the two leads.

Secretary actually gets into the minds of dominant/sub missives and takes their point of view. By the end, it even makes the case for acceptance. "Perverts" are people too.

“Secretary” is a surprisingly warm story of two people who find pleasure in sado-masochism, and yet manage to develop an authentic and heartfelt relationship with each other. Lee (Gyllenhaal) is a young self-mutilator who is seeking a “normal” life. She goes job hunting and finds secretarial work at the law office of Mr. Grey (Spader) whose last secretary is racing out the door as Lee walks in. Through hint and innuendo Lee and Mr. Grey discover that each compliments the other – Lee’s desire to be controlled and Mr. Grey’s desire for control – and they embark on a perverse, and not-so-perverse journey. Although their preferences include bondage, punishment, and submission, the two develop a real affection for one another.

I liked “Secretary” because it was not a movie that shows two people who flourished in spite of their idiosyncrasies but in fact shows us two people who might not flourish without the other. Who else but Lee could understand Mr. Grey’s need for total and absolute control over everything from typing errors to magic markers? Who else but Mr. Grey can comprehend the satisfaction Lee derives from being punished when those things are not as Mr. Grey would have them? Although the subject matter may start out making the viewer uncomfortable, taken within the context of the movie it becomes clear that this is an old storyline with a new vehicle - sadomasochism. Two people, attracted to one another, overcome their fears and insecurities to be with one another. Lee and Mr. Grey know what makes them different and fear rejection because of it. In one another they find happiness because they understand and accept who they are, and who the other is. “Secretary” is a great choice if you are really looking for something different.